Unable to Break Free

[Age 16: Your river of Qi and Blood spanned more than half the Nine Provinces, and the phenomenon of purple qi coming three thousand li from the east caused countless people to bow down in worship. Your strength reached a height no one had attained before and no one would attain after. Though you had never set foot in the martial world, legends about you had already begun to spread through it. The Emperor Jiaqing bestowed upon you the title of Great Wheel Wisdom King.]

[Age 17: The Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists you created became a hotly sought-after cultivation method, and every temple wanted to receive your gift. You found it far too troublesome, so you authorized Shaolin Temple to print it in book form, granting virtually every request. Because you attached little importance to the Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists, nearly all the major temples obtained it. It spread farther and farther until, in the end, practically everyone had a copy!]

[Age 20: The Emperor Jiaqing passed away, and the Emperor Daoguang succeeded him. Seven Gang Force grandmasters of national martial arts who were hostile to the Great Qing Dynasty tried to infiltrate the imperial palace and steal the Imperial Seal of the Realm, hoping to deal a blow to the Great Qing Dynasty's national fortune, but they were driven back by the ten Gang Force grandmasters of national martial arts guarding the palace!]

[Age 24: You knew that the key to Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit was refining the spirit, but though you searched through countless texts from every sect and school, you could not find the spirit-refining cultivation method you wanted. You could not help thinking of Patriarch Bodhidharma. Since Patriarch Bodhidharma had hidden clues to the Marrow Cleansing Classic in the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills, could he have hidden clues to a spirit-refining cultivation method in various Buddhist scriptures?]

[Age 26: The number of Gang Force grandmasters of national martial arts in the Great Qing Dynasty increased greatly, and the dynasty sought to force every sect and school into submission. However, people of the martial world were naturally unwilling to be placed under anyone's control. Three hundred Gang Force grandmasters of national martial arts traveled together to the capital, frightening the Emperor Daoguang into hastily sending people to negotiate peace!]

[Age 27: The Emperor Daoguang learned that the son of the Bordered Blue Banner's leader had once offended you at Shaolin Temple, so he sent the banner leader to Shaolin Temple to apologize to you. He also tactfully aired his grievances to you, saying that martial heroes used their skills to break the law. As the number of Gang Force grandmasters of national martial arts increased, crimes across the land had risen sharply, and there had even been massacres of entire cities. Although you hated the Manchu Qing court, you still decided to lend a hand for the people's right to survive. You reached an agreement with the Manchu Qing court: it would help you gather information on Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit, and you would give it one Six-Revolution Golden Pill each year!]

[Age 28: A Manchu Qing expert who had used a Six-Revolution Golden Pill to enter the Dao through martial arts killed thirteen Gang Force grandmasters of national martial arts whose crimes were beyond counting, one after another. The people of the martial world were greatly intimidated, and crimes across the land decreased substantially!]

[Age 29: The leaders of the various sects and schools brought you information on Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit and asked you for Six-Revolution Golden Pills. You offered different terms of exchange based on the value of their cultivation methods as references!]

[Age 34: You searched through the scriptures written by Patriarch Bodhidharma himself but found nothing suspicious. You guessed that Patriarch Bodhidharma would not use the same trick twice. Since he had hidden clues to the Marrow Cleansing Classic in the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills, he surely would not repeat the old trick and hide clues to a spirit-refining cultivation method in the scriptures. You changed your approach and began studying Patriarch Bodhidharma's life!]

[Age 44: You discovered something particularly noteworthy. Patriarch Bodhidharma had faced a wall in a stone cave for nine years, then founded Shaolin Temple after emerging from seclusion. Six hundred years later, Wang Chongyang had secluded himself in an ancient tomb for nine years, then founded the Quanzhen Sect after emerging. Both had reached the realm of Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit and ultimately ascended in broad daylight. You felt this could surely be no coincidence!]

[Age 50: Gang Force grandmasters of national martial arts split into two extremes. The experts who had undergone six qualitative transformations of their Qi and Blood through Six-Revolution Golden Pills and entered the Dao through martial arts began calling themselves Gang Jin National Martial Arts Myths!]

[Age 51: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rose in rebellion. Seven Gang Jin National Martial Arts Myths loyal to the Manchu Qing court and five Gang Jin National Martial Arts Myths hostile to the Manchu Qing erupted into an earth-shaking battle. Because both sides had reservations, they ultimately chose to stop fighting and make peace!]

[Age 54: Although you did not know what had happened while Patriarch Bodhidharma faced the wall, or what Wang Chongyang had done inside the ancient tomb, you decided to copy their example and enter seclusion in Bodhidharma Cave!]

[Age 61: Empress Dowager Cixi launched the Xinyou Coup, executing the eight regent ministers and establishing her rule from behind the curtain. To consolidate her political position, Empress Dowager Cixi invited you to the capital to chant scriptures and pray for blessings. You were in seclusion in Bodhidharma Cave and paid Empress Dowager Cixi no attention whatsoever!]

[Age 73: Empress Dowager Cixi lifted the curtain and returned power to the emperor, declaring that she wished to come to Shaolin Temple in person to worship Buddha and seek scriptures. You were still in seclusion in Bodhidharma Cave and paid Empress Dowager Cixi no attention whatsoever. Receiving no response, Empress Dowager Cixi felt she had pressed her warm face against a cold backside and swore she never wanted to hear any news of you again!]

[Age 84: After a long period of seclusion, you reached a realm where your heart was as still as water, and your spiritual power increased substantially. However, your emotions had grown faint, your body had become sluggish, and your ability to speak had deteriorated. You suspected that something was wrong with your mind!]

[Age 94: The speed at which you expanded your sarira's storage limit tripled. You knew that seclusion could temper the spirit, but this was not the answer you wanted. You decided to emerge from seclusion and look for another way!]

[Age 104: You discovered that the higher your spiritual realm, the faster you cultivated the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic. You suspected that spiritual realms were connected in essence!]

[Age 134: You had reached the pinnacle of mastery!]

[Age 164: You finally touched the threshold of Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit. You discovered that Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit had nothing to do with strength and was related only to one's state of mind. You thought of the beginner village portal in an online game: once you reached level 10, even if you wore nothing but basic gear and had less than 500 combat power, you could easily activate the teleportation array. If you were only level 9, even if you were decked out in paid divine gear and had as much as five million combat power, you still could not leave the beginner village. You felt tremendously excited!]

[Age 194: You reached the realm of Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit, but you did not feel happy. You discovered that your state of mind was completely constrained. When your heart was full of benevolent thoughts, your realm was extremely stable, but when evil thoughts arose in your heart, your realm would waver!]

[Age 204: You happened to discover a warrior monk burdened with the grudge of his family's slaughter. His sole purpose in coming to Shaolin Temple to study under a master was to repay blood with blood and a tooth for a tooth. You suddenly seemed to understand something: if you were this warrior monk, under such constraints, you could only let go of your hatred and spare your enemies, putting aside every grudge for the murder of your father, mother, wife, son, and daughter. You felt that you had become a puppet. You could not do as you pleased, and you had lost your freedom!]